“What in the World?” Quiz – Week of June 17-23, 2018

Don’t forget to JOIN as a World Affairs Council member (TNWAC.org/join) to be eligible to win the monthly quiz prize.

Check your global affairs awareness with these ten questions taken from the week’s news reports provided via @TNWAC #TNWACquiz.

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QUIZ WINNERS FROM LAST WEEK

Deb Monroe, UK

Drew Lorelli, Washington, DC

David Hillinck, Huntsville, AL

Chase Cole, Nashville, TN

Julia Lydon, Nashville, TN

Stephanie Shackelford, Nashville, TN

Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN

(If you're a weekly winner you'll be entered for the monthly prize drawing but you must be a TNWAC member to win.  TNWAC.org/join )

JUNE 2018 MONTHLY PRIZE

"The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age"

by David E. Sanger

In 2015, Russian hackers tunneled deep into the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee, and the subsequent leaks of the emails they stole may have changed the course of American democracy. But to see the DNC hacks as Trump-centric is to miss the bigger, more important story: Within that same year, the Russians not only had broken into networks at the White House, the State Department, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but had placed implants in American electrical and nuclear plants that could give them the power to switch off vast swaths of the country. This was the culmination of a decade of escalating digital sabotage among the world’s powers, in which Americans became the collateral damage as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia battled in cyberspace to undercut one another in daily just-short-of-war conflict.

The Perfect Weapon is the startling inside story of how the rise of cyberweapons transformed geopolitics like nothing since the invention of the atomic bomb. Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes—from crippling infrastructure to sowing discord and doubt—cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. Two presidents—Bush and Obama—drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious code to blow up Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, and yet America proved remarkably unprepared when its own weapons were stolen from its arsenal and, during President Trump’s first year, turned back on the US and its allies. The government was often paralyzed, unable to threaten the use of cyberweapons because America was so vulnerable to crippling attacks on its own networks of banks, utilities, and government agencies.

Moving from the White House Situation Room to the dens of Chinese government hackers to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger—who broke the story of Olympic Games in his previous book—reveals a world coming face-to-face with the perils of technological revolution. The Perfect Weapon is the dramatic story of how great and small powers alike slipped into a new era of constant sabotage, misinformation, and fear, in which everyone is a target.

About the Author

David E. Sanger is the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times. A 1982 graduate of Harvard College, Sanger has been writing for the Times for 30 years covering foreign policy, globalization, nuclear proliferation, and the presidency.

More Information and Ordering

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We'll post the answers and the names of the winner(s) in next week's quiz.

Here's last week's questions and answers:

WHAT IN THE WORLD? QUIZ

Week of Jun 10-16, 2018

1. As the G-7 held its annual summit in Quebec this week, U.S. president Donald Trump's calls for Russia to be reinstated in the group of nations representing the world's most advanced economies were not successful. Russia was suspended from participation in the G-7 in 2014 in response to THIS act:

A. The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
B. The annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula
C. Interference in the U.S. presidential elections
D. The poisoning of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko

Correct Response: B. The annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-g7-summit-merkel/eu-agreed-time-not-right-for-g7-to-readmit-russia-merkel-idUKKCN1J42PA

2. In an election surprise that saw the end of a 15-year long Liberal Party government, the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Doug Ford—the brother of former scandal-ridden Toronto mayor Rob Ford—swept provincial elections, making Mr. Ford premier of THIS province, Canada's most populous:

A. British Columbia
B. Quebec
C. Ontario
D. Alberta

Correct Response: C. Ontario
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/doug-ford-brother-late-toronto-mayor-rob-ford-wins-ontario-n881226

3. The Taliban announced a 3-day ceasefire, the first since 2001. The ceasefire will coincide with Eid-el-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five obligations Islam demands of its followers. Which of the following is NOT one of the other four?

A. Zakat, or giving to the poor
B. Salaat, or praying five times a day
C. Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca
D. Jihad, or holy war

Correct Response: D. Jihad, or holy war
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44423032

4. THIS European nation's new government announced a push against radical Islam that includes shutting down seven mosques and expelling dozens of imams:

A. Germany
B. France
C. Austria
D. Poland

Correct Response: C. Austria
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-austria-politics-islam/austria-to-shut-down-mosques-expel-foreign-funded-imams-idUKKCN1J40WT

5. After days of protests rocked Jordan's capital, Amman, King Abdullah II asked for the resignation of the nation's prime minister, Hani al-Mulki. After multiple austerity measures were put in place to resolve the nation's economic crisis, al-Mulki's government proposed THIS additional measure, angering Jordanians and inspiring them to take to the streets:

A. Raising utility rates
B. Levying additional taxes on food
C. Levying an income tax on all citizens
D. Establishing an additional housing tax

Correct Response: C. Levying an income tax on everyone
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/06/04/616917869/jordanian-prime-minister-resigns-after-large-anti-government-protests

6. U.S. President Donald Trump left the G-7 Summit early this week to attend another summit, this one historic because it marks the first time a U.S. president will meet with a leader of North Korea. The ultimate goal of the meeting is convincing Kim Jong Un to end his nation's nuclear program. Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim will meet on the resort island of Sentosa, part of THIS country:

A. Malaysia
B. Japan
C. Indonesia
D. Singapore

Correct Response: D. Singapore
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-leaves-north-korea-summit-kim-jong-time/story?id=55772603

7. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's summit in China this week. Before heading to the Russian and Chinese-led security bloc's event, though, Mr. Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who presented Mr. Putin with THIS award, China's first ever, and praised Mr. Putin by saying, "I see this as an acknowledgement and evaluation of Russia's efforts to develop a comprehensive, strategic partnership with China":

A. The Friendship Medal
B. The Economic Security Award
C. The Leadership Plaque
D. The Military Strength Award

Correct Response: A. The Friendship Medal
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43915551

8. New eruptions from the Fuego volcano prompted additional evacuations in THIS country; 4,000 people remain in shelters, and over 100 people are dead a week after the volcano began spewing hot sediment, lava, and ash:

A. Guatemala
B. Honduras
C. Mexico
D. Panama

Correct Response: A. Guatemala
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/guatemalas-volcano-fire-emits-hot-sediment-flow-55779172

9. Swiss voters struck down Vollgeld, a proposed change in the nation's monetary system. The proposed policy would have reformed the Swiss franc in which of the following ways?

A. The Swiss franc would have become a commodity currency
B. Switzerland would have joined the euro zone
C. The Swiss franc would have returned to the gold standard
D. Switzerland's banks could no longer create money from debt

Correct Response: D. Switzerland's banks could no longer create money from debt https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-10/swiss-set-to-reject-sovereign-money-proposal-projection-shows

10. The tennis championship commonly called "The French Open," concluded this week. One of the four grand-slam tennis championships—along with the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open—the French tennis tournament also goes by THIS name, which comes from the premier clay-court venue where it takes place:

A. Parc des Princes
B. Bercy
C. Roland-Garros
D. Chaban-Delmas

Correct Response: C. Roland-Garros
https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/44431333

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